Tag Archives: Tom Petty

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Kurt Vile combines a crate’s worth of cool on his new Pitchfork-praised album, Smoke Ring For My Halo.

There’s an obvious debt to classic rock chillers such as Tom Petty, but he spruces up that no-frills style with modern slacker psychedelia, impressive front-porch fingerpicking and canyons of reverb that surround — but never swallow — his songs.

It’s good that Halo’s production stays in the shadows, as through engrossing strummers such as “Jesus Fever,” Vile proves to be a strangely engaging writer and frontman — something modern indie rock needs much more of. Sure, he’s fashionably detached, but unlike so many of his noncommittal peers, Vile’s songs carry a mysterious sense of purpose.

He'll head to Nashville on Wednesday, April 6 to play at The End (2219 Elliston Place, 321-4457). The show starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $10.

Click to see a gallery of photos from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Nashville concert with Crosby, Stills and Nash (this image of Petty: George Walker IV/The Tennessean).

As one of rock's most enduring singer-songwriters, Tom Petty is also one of its most reliable entertainers.

It's hard to imagine anyone leaving his concert with the Heartbreakers and openers Crosby Stills and Nash at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena Thursday night feeling like they hadn't gotten exactly what they expected.

On the other hand, Petty's reliability, ultra-cool demeanor and middle-of-the-road charm doesn't lead to the most dynamic show in the world -- but who can complain when a performer hits "Listen to Her Heart" and "You Don't Know How It Feels" right out of the gate?

"It's a pleasure to be here in Nashville," Petty said Thursday after the third song "I Won't Back Down." "We've got so many friends and people backstage, and a little girl asked me to do this number, so I'm going to do it for her."

Petty's young fan made a heck of a request -- "Free Fallin'" -- and it turned into one of the night's many every-seat-in-the-house singalongs.Continue reading →

As fine of a power-popsman as Tom Petty has been in the past couple of decades (see his stellar “Walls” from She’s The One, the sublime Echo or the title track from his 2002 The Last DJ), it’s been far too long since a mainstream audience has heard him and his band the Heartbreakers get down and dirty.

Their new album, Mojo, swiftly scratches that itch, brewing up a batch of grimy southern blues-rock with a psychedelic twist. It’s a flavor the Florida rock vets know well — you can slice the swagger with a bowie knife when “I Should Have Known It” stops its swampy groove in its tracks with Petty sneering, “It’s the last time you’re gonna hurt me.”

Plus, in the best one-two arena punch we’ve seen in Nashville since Roger Daltrey opened for Eric Clapton: Crosby, Stills and Nash will be kicking off the evening when Petty and Co. visit Bridgestone Arena (501 Broadway, 770-7825) on Thursday, August 12. There’s a clear line that can be drawn between CSN's first few classic releases and Mojo’s trippy southern trajectory.

Click to see a photo gallery of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Bonnaroo (this image: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean).

Bruce Springsteen. James Brown. Tom Petty. B.B. King.

For a festival that many associate with a college-aged crowd, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has welcomed more than its share of performers in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s over the years. This year, R&B legend Stevie Wonder shares the fest’s coveted Saturday night slot with rap superstar Jay-Z. At their best, these sorts of bookings can connect musical veterans with a new audience -- and turn young music lovers on to classic sounds while coaxing many middle-aged fans out of suburbia and back onto festival grounds.

Rick Farman of Bonnaroo co-producers Superfly Productions says the festival is “an opportunity to check one of those legends off your list.”

“When we had James Brown (in 2003), there were a lot of people who saw him that year that were like, ‘Wow, I got to see James Brown.’ If he was playing at an arena or amphitheater or club near them, would they necessarily go out and buy a ticket? Maybe not. But because it’s at a festival and they’re coming to see 20 or 30 other bands, they’re really excited to see that act.”

While Wonder and reggae figurehead Jimmy Cliff will perform on Bonnaroo’s biggest stage, there are many more veteran acts holding court in Bonnaroo’s mid-sized tent stages. Jeff Beck, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Steve Martin are sharing lineups with artists just a fraction of their age — and if Bonnaroos past are any indication, they’ll be just as warmly received.Continue reading →

Lady Antebellum kicked off their roughly hour-long show with “Stars Tonight,” an up-tempo album cut from their latest, platinum-selling CD, Need You Now. The minimal stage set placed the focus on band members Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, and sonically, that approach paid off. The trio was vocally spot-on the whole night, and without the distractions of an elaborate stage, the audience hung on every note.

The band's first hit single “Love Don’t Live Here,” showcased Lady Antebellum's signature harmonies and roped the crowd into one of the night’s many a sing-a-longs. Later in the show, Kelley dedicated “When You Got a Good Thing” to his wife Cassie and Scott took the opportunity to thank the audience for coming out.

“We are honored to be here, especially because I was born and raised here,” she said. “There’s a lot of history on this stage.”Continue reading →

A Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers show, in our completely biased opinion, is right up there with a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show, in terms of pure rock 'n' roll thrill and just about non-stop fist-pump factor. So color us insanely stoked that Petty and Co. are headed back to Middle Tennessee this summer on a tour supporting Mojo, the rock legends' first studio set in some eight years.

Throw in a guest spot from Stevie Nicks, like the one we saw when Petty headlined Bonnaroo, and safe to say our heads would explode. (We're not saying it's gonna happen, we're just saying it was a fine, fine thing back in the cow pasture.)

An extra bonus for folks who purchase said tickets: An online purchase also grabs you a digital download of Mojo (you'll get two tracks initially, and then when the set is released in the spring, an email inviting ticket-buyers to download the rest will come) and, after the tour is finished, a collection of live tracks recorded during the run.

Benson had a hand in Chisel's recent Death Won't Send A Letter album -- the Nashville singer and his Raconteurs bandmates (sans-Jack White) played on Death single "Born Again," which Benson also co-wrote -- and the two have been on the road together recently too.

After discovering a shared love of Tom Petty's music, they started performing a cover of Petty's "American Girl" at shows.